Pitching & Throwing / Importance of Long Toss

by Jason Johnson

Jason signed with the Pittsburg Pirates in 1992. His major league debut with the Pirates in 1997, he went on to play for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Seibu Lions (Japanese League 2007), and Los Angeles Dodgers.

This video is for subscribers only. No PREVIEW is available.

Coach Jason Johnson offers up some advice for young players looking to long toss in this segment. Coach Johnson believes that long tossing is the best way to make sure all of your throwing muscles are loose as well as preventing injury to your arm. It is important to remember that long for some may be too long for others, stay within yourself and gradually build up to 150-180 feet like coach Johnson used to do when he played in the Big Leagues.So you're watching a game on TV, or you're watching a game in the stands. And you start to watch a guy out in the outfield long tossing. You're wondering, why is he doing that? Well, I'm Jason Johnson from Insidebaseball.com, and I'm here to tell you why. First of all, when a guy's getting ready for a game, he's going to want to loosen his arm up a little bit. Well, the key is, if you loosen your arm up just throwing 80, 90 feet, you're not going to really, really stretch it out. Once you get on the mound, you want to be ready. You want to be 100%. You want to be ready to go. You want to be ready to throw 90 miles an hour, if you have to, when you're warming up. So the key is, you go out there. You start close, start 60 feet, start slowly moving back. I usually go back to about 180 feet. You go back to 180 feet, when you start stretching it out and start really long tossing, you loosen all the muscles up in your back. You loosen all the muscles up in your shoulder, your elbow, all the main key components in throwing hard and throwing without injury. So a big part of baseball, why you'll see guys out there long tossing before they throw, before they get on the mound-- even outfielders, you see outfielders, infielders, everybody in the game, will be out there long tossing. Because that is probably one of the single most important things in baseball in avoiding injury. So I'm going to tell you that I've actually picked up a couple miles an hour on my fastball just from long tossing every other day, sometimes daily. So I'll get back to 180 feet, 190 feet, it really increases speed, velocity, all that stuff. So it's something that you really need to think about if you want to improve your game. And I recommend trying it slowly. Don't just run out to 180 feet and say, I can do this. So I'm Jason Johnson, Insidebaseball.com.

Coach Jason Johnson offers up some advice for young players looking to long toss in this segment. Coach Johnson believes that long tossing is the best way to make sure all of your throwing muscles are loose as well as preventing injury to your arm. It is important to remember that long for some may be too long for others, stay within yourself and gradually build up to 150-180 feet like coach Johnson used to do when he played in the Big Leagues.

TESTIMONIALS

"I love your site. I recommended it for so many people. Your site is invaluable for picking up good drills. Some drills can be used for ALL ages even in the MLB."

-Mike Toomey - Baseball Factory Scouting Consultant

"I show the videos to my kids and we'll watch one video 3 or 4 times. The series of videos on the site are really good and does come in handy for training purposes. The defensive play book is one of the best tools we can use. We just spent a couple of hours practice doing first section in the book. We are definitely going to continue to use that during the season."

-Jason Philips - Snellville GA 9U Coach

"What makes Inside Baseball so powerful is that it helps you focus on two different worlds – advanced instruction and also the things that we take for granted. The instruction helps you master the basics while also helping you tinker with the most intricate details in your game to help take you to the next level. Inside Baseball is a one stop shop for all the baseball instruction you need."

-Lou Pastore - Tampa FL - Little League Coach

“The access you get to some of the best minds the sport has to offer is what makes Inside Baseball so unique. Just sitting down and watching these videos and implementing them into your day-to-day routine can help make you a better player. I’d recommend Inside Baseball and their videos to anyone looking to be a better baseball player!”

-Roy Halladay - Former MLB All-Star Pitcher

"The drills and the instruction that you have presented is by far the best I've seen. This will be so good to all age groups.You have three instructors that I was privileged to coach at Tampa Catholic Chuck Hernendez, John Tamargo and Nardi Contresas - they are the best. You have 3 winners here: Good fundamentals, great people, great drills!!"

-Pete Mulry - President Peter J. Mulry Foundation

“Inside Baseball’s use of video, tools, drills and lessons are fun, new and get right to the core of what it means to be a better fielder. The coaches and the courses they teach are professional, fun and motivating to the player. I’d recommend Inside Baseball to anyone who’s serious about receiving professional instruction.”